Galveston Bay Foundation Acquires Major Acreage

The Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) recently acquired 4,714 acres of coastal habitat along Halls Bayou and West Galveston Bay in Brazoria and Galveston Counties, to be named The Chocolate Bay Preserve. The preserve will be forever protected as open space and natural habitat. This acquisition brings the total amount of land conserved by the Galveston Bay Foundation to over 13,000 acres. Natural habitats found onsite include tidal marshes, freshwater and brackish wetlands, and coastal tallgrass prairie. The acquisition was funded by a $10.5 million grant from Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and a $1 million grant from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Additional financial support was provided by the Galveston Bay Estuary Program’s (GBEP) Conservation Assistance Program. GBF will preserve this property as part of its mission, but will also place a conservation easement on the property to be held by the Katy Prairie Conservancy. A conservation easement will provide additional legal protection to ensure the property remains conserved forever.

“This Preserve represents the largest conservation project ever completed by GBF and we are very proud to have preserved this special property. Natural habitats that occur on the Preserve will ensure availability of critical resources for waterfowl like ducks, geese, and cranes, numerous wading birds, and neotropical migrant songbirds. These habitats also provide essential habitat for recreationally and commercially significant coastal fisheries including fish, crabs, and shrimp. Due to the continued growth of our region, it is more important than ever to conserve large tracts of land like this now to ensure the future health of Galveston Bay.” said Bob Stokes, President of GBF.

This project was prioritized for its size, location, and high-quality wildlife and fisheries habitats. The nearly 5,000-acre Preserve is situated only 2 miles from the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, preserving connectivity of similar habitat types. The Preserve also has 13 miles of frontage along coastal waterways, saltwater lakes, and bays, including the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in West Galveston Bay. These marshy shorelines provide nursery habitat for many species of fish, shrimp and crabs that are found in Galveston Bay and help maintain local water quality. Over 1,000 acres of brackish and freshwater wetland habitats found on the Preserve provide refuge for resident and migratory waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, and other wetland and water dependent species. The property also contains more than 2,000 acres of native coastal prairie. This prairie contains rare plant communities that have largely disappeared from the Texas Coastal Plain because of agricultural land uses and development. Mary Anne Piacentini, President and CEO of the Katy Prairie Conservancy, states “The protection of the Chocolate Bay Preserve makes a meaningful impact on the preservation of the imperiled coastal prairie ecosystem.  We are excited to work with GBF to ensure this land remains a sanctuary for the many birds and other wildlife that depend on the grasslands and marsh of the Texas coast.”

The property is the eastern half of a larger parcel owned by an investment fund of The Lyme Timber Company LP, a conservation-oriented real estate investment manager, and has been managed in cooperation with Eco-Capital Advisors, LLC, an advisory firm with expertise in ecosystem services. Lyme first contacted Galveston Bay Foundation about the property in 2017, and the parties have worked together to complete this transaction. Lyme also expects to convey a conservation easement to Galveston Bay Foundation on the adjacent western half of the parcel at some point in the future to facilitate the establishment of a wetland mitigation bank and the enhancement of the habitat on the adjoining property.